Urban Experience #37, with Ioana Ciocan

Ioana is an independent curator and activator of contemporary art projects in public space. She battles and demystifies the demons of the past, displaying them ironically, unmasked, and, at a careful and present glance, vulnerable. Project 1990, which occupied Lenin’s pedestal, brought her to the public eye, and, along with a certain fame and attention, it also got her quite the training into negotiating with the local administration. A training that benefits today of a larger trust and expanded experience, but still gets tested every year when organizing Art SafariPavilion Bucharest, the largest art fair in the country. Since she took over its management, in 2013, Art Safari keeps growing and has made a tradition of bringing abandoned patrimonial buildings back to the public life through art: Ciclop, Dacia – Romania Palace, Kretzulescu Galleries. Ioana is also the one who supported BAZA and offered us our debut: it is together with her and her team that we carefully set the Dacia Romania Palace in 2016.